Nigerian Bat Expert Wins Top Prize for Fire Prevention Work

When ecologist Iroro Tanshi watched flames sweep from farmland into Nigeria's Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary in 2016, she knew she had just found something extraordinary in those caves. The short-tailed roundleaf bat she had discovered was thought to be gone from the region for over 40 years.

Now, that wildfire moment has sparked a solution that's protecting both rare wildlife and farming communities. Tanshi just won the Goldman Environmental Prize for her work preventing the fires that threaten critically endangered gorillas, chimpanzees, and bats in southern Nigeria's Cross River state.

Every year from January to April, farmers around Afi Mountain use fire to clear land for planting cacao, maize and cassava. The ash adds nutrients to the soil, making it an efficient farming method passed down through generations.

But when weather conditions turn dangerous, those controlled burns can explode into wildfires that destroy crops and forest. Farmers knew the risks but found it harder to predict safe burning days as weather patterns shifted.

Since 2022, Tanshi's Small Mammal Conservation Organization has partnered with five villages to change that. Weather stations now track temperature, humidity and wind in each community, producing daily alerts displayed on color-coded signboards: green for safe, yellow for caution, red for danger.

On high-risk days, town criers fan out with metal gongs to warn residents not to burn. Fifty trained forest guardians patrol with water backpacks, radios and motorcycles, ready to respond.

Anyone caught setting fires on no-burn days faces fines under community bylaws. The system works because farmers helped design it.

Tanshi's team also tackles another threat to bats: hunting. Hunters pursuing larger Egyptian fruit bats with nets accidentally catch the smaller, critically endangered short-tailed roundleaf bats that share the same caves.

A single hunter might return with 4,000 bats in one trip. That's devastating for species that reproduce slowly and have fewer than 1,500 individuals worldwide.

The solution? Training villagers to raise cane rats as an alternative protein source, reducing pressure on bat populations while providing communities with sustainable food.

The Ripple Effect

What started as one scientist's concern for rare bats has transformed how five villages manage fire risk and food security. Patrick Idy, a forestry official in neighboring Akwa Ibom state, calls the use of technology and early detection "a game changer" for minimizing forest fire risk.

Collaborative NGO PADIC-Africa credits Tanshi's expertise with "significantly strengthening grassroots awareness and response to forest fire risks." The approach combines traditional knowledge with modern weather prediction, giving farmers tools to protect both their livelihoods and the forest.

The Afi Mountain sanctuary and adjacent Cross River National Park now have breathing room to shelter their critically endangered residents, from Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees to drill monkeys.

A decade of patient work with communities across Nigeria, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea's Bioko Island proves that conservation works best when local people lead the way.